Albert Pinkham Ryder Quotes

• It is the first vision that counts. The artist has only to remain true to his dream and it will possess his work in such a manner that it will resemble the work of no other... for no two visions are alike, and those who reach the heights have all toiled up steep mountains by a different route. To each has been revealed a different panorama.

  Albert Pinkham Ryder

  Dream, Artist, Two

  50 Copy quote

• The artist should fear to become the slave of detail. He should strive to express his thought and not the surface of it. What avails a storm cloud accurate in form and color if the storm is not therein?

  Albert Pinkham Ryder

  Artist, Clouds, Color

  Quoted in Goodrich Albert Pinkham Ryder (1959).

  12 Copy quote

• Imitation is not inspiration, and inspiration only can give birth to a work of art. The least of man's original emanation is better than the best of borrowed thought.

  Albert Pinkham Ryder

  Art, Inspiration, Men

  Albert Pinkham Ryder (1961). “Albert Pinkham Ryder: Exhibition April 8-May 12, 1961”

  17 Copy quote

• Modern art must strike out from the old. The new is not revealed to those whose eyes are fastened in worship upon the old…Have you ever seen an inch worm crawl up a leaf or twig, and then clinging to the very end, revolve in the air, feeling for something to reach? That's like me. I am trying to find something out there beyond the place on which I have a footing.

  Albert Pinkham Ryder

  Art, Eye, Air

  8 Copy quote

• The artist has only to remain true to his dream and it will possess his work in such a manner that it will resemble the work of no other man.

  Albert Pinkham Ryder

  Dream, Artist, Men

  Albert Pinkham Ryder (1961). “Albert Pinkham Ryder: Exhibition April 8-May 12, 1961”

  7 Copy quote

• Who hath seen the Phantom Ship,
  Her lordly rise and lowly dip,
  Careering o'er the lonesome main,
  No port shall know her keel again...
  Ah, woe is in the awful sight,
  The sailor finds there eternal night,
  'Neath the waters he shall ever sleep,
  And Ocean will the secret keep

  Albert Pinkham Ryder

  Ocean, Sleep, Night

  Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Albert Pinkham Ryder (1918). “Loan exhibition of the works of Albert P. Ryder”

  12 Copy quote

• The artist needs but a roof, a crust of bread, and his easel, and all the rest God gives him in abundance. He must live to paint and not paint to live.

  Albert Pinkham Ryder

  Art, Giving, Needs

  Quoted in Sherman Albert Pinkham Ryder (1920).

  10 Copy quote

• The artist should strive to express his thought and not the surface of it.

  Albert Pinkham Ryder

  Artist, Expression, Strive

  Quoted in Goodrich Albert Pinkham Ryder (1959).

  7 Copy quote

• The new is not revealed to those whose eyes are fastened in worship upon the old.

  Albert Pinkham Ryder

  Worship

  "Albert P. Ryder: centenary exhibition; Oct. 18 to Nov. 30, 1947".

  6 Copy quote

• What avails a storm cloud accurate in form and color if the storm is not therein?

  Albert Pinkham Ryder

  Clouds, Color, Storm

  Albert Pinkham Ryder, Whitney Museum of American Art, Lloyd Goodrich (1947). “Albert P. Ryder: centenary exhibition ; Oct. 18 to Nov. 30, 1947”

  6 Copy quote

• A rain-tight roof, frugal living, a box of colors, and God's sunlight through clear windows keep the soul attuned and the body vigorous for one's daily work.

  Albert Pinkham Ryder

  Rain, Color, Soul

  Albert Pinkham Ryder, Whitney Museum of American Art, Lloyd Goodrich (1947). “Albert P. Ryder: centenary exhibition ; Oct. 18 to Nov. 30, 1947”

  4 Copy quote

• The artist should fear to become the slave of detail.

  Albert Pinkham Ryder

  Fear, Artist, Details

  Quoted in Goodrich Albert Pinkham Ryder (1959).

  7 Copy quote

• facebook
• twitter
• googleplus
• email
• linkedin